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Popular School Fundraisers Not Promoting Health

Popular school fundraisers, like Box Tops, give schools a small portion for each label that has been collected from eligible products. However, a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that the collected products included sugary cereals and snacks in which less than a third met nutritional standards set by the USDA. 

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fundraiser.jpgChief of General Academic Pediatrics Dr. Elsie Taveras says, “The bottom line is that while schools and children are participating in this program, it isn’t promoting the best health. The program is leveraging caring parents to promote these unhealthy foods.”

The most popular fundraiser, Box Tops for Education, gives schools 10 cents for each eligible product label. Often, many schools promote competitions among classes. Many of the prizes include pizza parties and other sweets. Currently, about 90,000 schools nationwide raise money through the program.

Read the full story here.

Voices for Healthy Kids has developed resources to help you get kids active and have access to healthy foods. Check out our toolkit below.

Junk Food Marketing Toolkit – look under the resources tab, in the fact section for these:

  • Food Marking in Schools Examples
  • School Fundraising Fact Sheet